Developing cognitive and creative skills through art

ThcJ Arts in Psychotherup,

Vol. 7 p. 233, Ankho

International

Inc.,

1980. Printed

in the U.S.A.

BOOK REVIEW

Developing

Cognitive

and Creative

Skills Through

Art

Rawley A. Silver, EdD, ATR (Baltimore,

MD: University Park Press, (259 Pages, $14.95)

This book is an invaluable contribution to those who were, who are now, and who will be in the future, concerned and involved with deaf and learning-disabled children. For many years Dr. Rawley A. Silver has shared with us her knowledge and experiences as an artist, educator, therapist and researcher. She has published many papers on the value of using art with deaf children, the development of cognitive skills through art experiences, the positive role of art in conceptual thinking of aphasic children. Her book outlines the actual programs and techniques she employs for children handicapped by communicative disorders, learning disabilities and hearing impairment. She demonstrates that standardized tests that identify a child’s cognitive stage of verbal communication by what the child says may be applied equally well to measuring nonverbal communication by what the child draws. The book is divided into two parts. The first concerns the role of art in cognition, adjustment and assessment. Contrary to earlier beliefs, Silver shows that children may indeed be gifted and that the gratification in the art experience, coupled with the energy it generates, carries over to stimulate unexpected school success, personal growth, and feelings of self-worth. The second part of the book is devoted to the development of cognitive and creative skills. Practical art procedures are demonstrated as being helpful in remediating cognitive deficits and in developing cognitive skills. Silver outlines methods and testing procedures in several areas: the ability to associate and represent concepts

1978)

through drawing from imagination, the ability to order sequentially through painting and clay, and the ability to perceive and represent concepts of space through drawing from observation. Her statistical analyses reveal that, “In a study designed to develop cognitive skills, handicapped children developed art skills and expressiveness to a degree that was statistically significant, indicating that art experience can be educational and therapeutic concurrently, and that we do not have to sacrifice one development for another.” As an art therapist who has worked with deaf and learning-disabled children, I have found that art therapy with nonverbal and deaf children opens a world of exciting, spontaneous and nonthreatening communication for them and for the art therapist. I do believe, however, that strict structuring of the art experience, as Silver does, inhibits spontaneity to some degree. The volume includes 177 significant drawings and many statistical tables; an added and rare bonus is a list of readings for further reference. I highly recommend this scholarly book as an outstanding text and reference for educators as well as graduate students in art therapy, special education, art education and psychology. We have waited for years for a book containing such a wealth of objective and quantitative information on this subject. The waiting has been well worthwhile. Felice W. Cohen, BS, ATR Chief, Art Psychotherapy Texas Research Institute of Mental Sciences Houston, Texas

0197-4556/80/030233-01$02.00/O Copyright e 1980 Ankho International

Inc